Watch case

ABSTRACT

An elongated bolt holds both the front and back covers of the watch case in closed position. A pair of balls are movable behind the bolt and a control member acts on its middle portion. When pressing it the bolt tilts around the control member, lower end due to the presence of the lower ball and the upper cover unbolts.

United States Patent [191 Lopez WATCH CASE [75] Inventor: Angel Lopez, Les

Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Switzerland [73] Assignee: Manufacture de boites de Mintres S.

Graber S.A., Renan, Switzerland [22] Filed: Sept. 24, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 400,141

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept 28, 1972 Switzerland 14200/72 52 us. C l. .L 58/102 [51] Int. Cl. G04b 37/00 [58] Field of Search 58/101-103 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 308,445

ll/l884 Thiery 58/101 1 1] 3,817,026 June 18, 1974 3,444,685 5/l969 .luillerat .t 58/l0l X Primary Examiner-George H. Miller, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher 5 7] ABSTRACT An elongated bolt holds both the front and back covers of the watch case in closed position. A pair of balls are movable behind the bolt and a control member acts on its middle portion. When pressing it the bolt tilts around the control member, lower end due to the presence of the lower ball and the upper cover unbolts.

'5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 1 WATCH CASE The present invention relates to a watch case including a bolting device controlling several movable elements, characterized in that it includes a single control member, the same movement of which controls the selective bolting or unbolting of one orthe other of the said movable elements, according to the position of the case.

There are currently numerous watch cases, and especially pocket-watch cases, where the elements covering the face and the back, such as the crystal and the dome, are protected by hinged covers. The arrangement proposed by the present invention ensures quick and easy opening of these covers and makes it possible to bolt them closed by means of a device of small dimensions.

The accompanying drawing shows an embodiment of the invented watch case by way of example.

FIG. 1 is a partial axial sectional view along the axis of the pendant, and

P16. 2 is a partial sectional view along the line llll of the FIG. 1.

The drawing shows a pocket-watch case, the middle 1 of which maintains in its center opening movement and a dial (not shown). A crystal 2 is fixed by conventional means, such as a snap fitting to an edge of the middle 1, while over the other face of this middle, there extends a dome 3 which is fixed by exactly the same v means. If desired, this dome could be made of transparent material. The case described is likewise equipped with a front cover 4 and a back cover 5. Each of these covers pivots around a hinge on the middle 1, the hinges being situated at a location diametrically opposed to that which is visible in FIG. 1. The visible portion of that figure is the one which is situated on the side of the pendant shown at 6. This tubular part is driven into a radial opening of the middle I; and passing through it along its axis is a winding stem 7, which carries at its outer end a crown (not shown) and which extends inside the movement through a cylindrical passage traversing the entire thickness of the middle. The diameter of the outer portion of this passage apprecia bly exceeds that of the stem 7. In the vicinity of its inner end, there is a shoulder 8, so that the inner end of the passage is practically fitted to the stem 7. Moreover, the middle 1 is pierced, parallel to the axis of the movement, by two cylindrical holes 9 and 10 having parallel axes but differing diameters and which encroach upon one another. As will be seen in FIG. 1, the hole 9 furthermore extends into the grooves which form the edges of the crystal 2 and of the dome 3, whereas these grooves, which ensure the fastening of the elements 2 and 3, cover the ends of the hole 10. The holes 9 and 10 are situated a plane diametrically intersecting the case and passing through the axis of the stem 7; the diameter of the hole 10 is smaller than that of the hole 9, and the latter is off-set toward the outside with respect to the hole 10.

In order that they may be bolted closed, the two covers 4 and 5 have, in the portions of them which are diametrically opposed to the hinge, inner edges 11 and 12 which project toward the inside and slightly overhang the ends of the hole 9. The bolting itself is ensured and controlled by a device composed of parts lodged in the holes 9 and and in the annular space comprised between the stem 7 and the wall of the passage through which it passes. A coil-spring l3 presses against the shoulder 8 and tends to displace outwardly a sleeve 14 which follows it in the radial passage provided for the stem 7. This sleeve cuts the hole 10 into two parts and imprisons within each of the two end portions of this hole one of two balls 15 and 16, each of which can run along in the hole. lnside the hole 9 there is lodged a bolt 17 which consists of a profile-tumed part, generally cylindrical in shape, having at each end first a bevel 18, then a groove of rectangular profile 19, the width of which is adjusted to the thickness of each of the edges 11 and 12 which fits into it, then a collar 20, the diameter of which is smaller than that of the hole 9, then an arc-profiled groove 21, the rounding of this groove being equal to the radius of each of the balls 15 and 16. Between the two grooves 21 of the bolt 17, there extends a portion of this part having a diameter equal to that of the collars 20, but with two parallel and symmetrical flat faces 22 and being pierced by a hole coaxial with the stem 7. The diameter of this hole is the same as that of the sleeve 14. Finally, the device also includes a tube 23 engaged around the stem 7 on the outward side of the case, in such a way that it can be actuated in the direction of the axis of the stem by the winding crown. The tube 23 can slide in the radial passage of the middle, and the end of it is in contact with one of the flat faces 22, while the sleeve 14 is in contact with the other flat face.

The operation of the bolting device described follows from its arrangement. When the watch is, held in the position shown in FIG. 1, with cover 4 uppermost, the ball 15 is obviously situated at the lower end of the hole 10 and rests against the edge of the dome 3, whereas the ball 16 lies on the sleeve 14. The ball 16 is opposite the groove 21 of the upper end of the bolt 17, while the ball 15 is opposite the collar 20 of the lower end of that bolt. The sleeve 14, acted upon by the spring 13, keeps the bolt 17 pressed against the wall of the hole 9 toward the outside, so that the edges 11 and 12 are engaged in the grooves 19. The tube 23 is in its outwardmost position, and the two covers 4 and 5 are bolted. If one presses on the winding crown when it is in winding position, the tube 23 is pushed toward the inside and presses on the bolt 17. Because of the presence of the ball 15, the lower collar is prevented from moving, so

that the bolt can only pivot around an axis perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and situated at the level of the lower collar 20. This movement displaces the upper end of the bolt, as is shown by the dot-dash lines in FIG. 1, against the action of spring 13, which is compressed by the displacement of the sleeve 14. The cover 4 is unbolted, while the cover 5 remains locked.

Cover is bolted automatically by pressure upon it. The edge 11 pushes against the bevel 18 so that the bolt returns to the position shown in dot-dash lines until the edge 11 is engaged in the groove 19 of the upper end of the bolt. The spring 13 then ensures the bolting.

lt will be seen that if the watch is turned over around the axis of the stem 7, each of the balls will move by its own weight, so that the roles of the balls 15 and 16 are reversed, and pressure exerted upon the crown will cause the unbolting of the cover 5 in exactly the same way, while the cover 4 will remain locked.

The device described above may be designed differently, if so desired, and may serve selectively to bolt and unbolt other elements than the cover and, as the case may be, more than two such elements.

What is claimed is:

1. In a watch case comprising several movable elements (4, 5), a bolting device for bolting said elements, said device comprising a control member (23) bolting means operatively connected to said control member and locking means 15, 16) movable under the action of their weight and cooperating with said bolting means at difi'erent'locations according to the position of the case, said locking means thus compelling said bolting means to displace differently in response to a definite displacement of said control member and to selectively bolt and unbolt a different one of said movable elements according to the position of the case.

2. In a watch case according to claim 1 said movable elements comprising front and back covers hinged around parallel axis, said bolting means comprising an elongated bolt freely engaging a first cylindrical hole perpendicular to said axis, said locking means comprising a pair of locking elements each of which cooperates with said bolt at one end thereof and said control memher being arranged to act on a middle portion of said bolt.

3. In a watch case according to claim 2, each of said locking elements being a ball and said balls being guided in a second cylindrical hole parallel to and intersecting said first hole, and said bolt having at each end a catching groove for one of said movable elements, a collar and an arc-profiled groove, each of said collar and arc-profiled groove cooperating with another one of said balls.

4. In a watch case according to claim 3, said control member being a tube mounted perpendicularly to said bolt and acting with its innerrend on a flat portion of said bolt.

5. In a watch case according to claim 4, said device comprising a tube portion lodged opposite said control member and a spring sustaining said tube portion to restore said control member and said bolt in a bolting position after an unbolting displacement. 

1. In a watch case comprising several movable elements (4, 5), a bolting device for bolting said elements, said device comprising a control member (23'') bolting means operatively conneCted to said control member and locking means (15, 16) movable under the action of their weight and cooperating with said bolting means at different locations according to the position of the case, said locking means thus compelling said bolting means to displace differently in response to a definite displacement of said control member and to selectively bolt and unbolt a different one of said movable elements according to the position of the case.
 2. In a watch case according to claim 1 said movable elements comprising front and back covers hinged around parallel axis, said bolting means comprising an elongated bolt freely engaging a first cylindrical hole perpendicular to said axis, said locking means comprising a pair of locking elements each of which cooperates with said bolt at one end thereof and said control member being arranged to act on a middle portion of said bolt.
 3. In a watch case according to claim 2, each of said locking elements being a ball and said balls being guided in a second cylindrical hole parallel to and intersecting said first hole, and said bolt having at each end a catching groove for one of said movable elements, a collar and an arc-profiled groove, each of said collar and arc-profiled groove cooperating with another one of said balls.
 4. In a watch case according to claim 3, said control member being a tube mounted perpendicularly to said bolt and acting with its inner end on a flat portion of said bolt.
 5. In a watch case according to claim 4, said device comprising a tube portion lodged opposite said control member and a spring sustaining said tube portion to restore said control member and said bolt in a bolting position after an unbolting displacement. 